Devil May Cry 5 – Visions of V –

Devil May Cry 5 – Visions of V – is an official manga series that serves as a tie-in to Devil May Cry 5. The manga was announced on March 7th, a day before the game was released.

The manga centers around V and will go into detail about the events following his birth and how he was led into the events of the game.

The manga is published by the electronic Japanese manga hosting website, LINE MANGA (LINE マンガ). It is illustrated by Tomio Ogata.

The first chapter came out on April 27, 2019 on LINE MANGA, with the manga updating new chapters every other Saturday afterwards. The prologue "Chapter 0" was available early on the site. Due to LINE MANGA's regional access service, the manga can only be read in Japan.

Plot
The story will center around V’s birth, how he meets his familiars, and other details that set up the events of the game.

Chapter 0
In Red Grave City, spots a demon and notifies V, who sit upon corpses of numerous demons and tells Griffon to ignore the demon if it is not coming near them. V reads "A Poison Tree" from his book and looks upon the Qliphoth tree. V narrates the Qliphoth is feeding off on human blood to grow a fruit for Urizen. The chapter flashbacks to many different point of V's life, one involving shortly after his birth with Griffon telling him they need to join forces if they want to beat Urizen. Another gives a glimpse of V obtaining his cane and Shadow for the first time. One moment shows Griffon warning V that not all demons will submit so easily and must be tamed by force as they face against a Phantom. Another sequence shows them facing against, with Griffon wanting them to run away. The final moment shows V sneaking into a sleeping Nero's hospital room, vowing to use everything he can to defeat Urizen.

Chapter 1
After ripping Nero's Devil Bringer off, a weak and dying Vergil goes to the ruins of his former home in Red Grave City. While he doesn't fear death, Vergil's desire to beat Dante and his desire for power compels him to use the Yamato to discard anything that he believes that makes him weak. Vergil then removes the memories of his enslavement as Mundus's Nelo Angelo, causing them to manifest as shadowy creatures, as well as his decaying flesh and human heart. As a result, V and Urizen are born, with V being left with a human body that will eventually perish. As Urizen begins to form, V watches in fear and tries to crawl away, all while failing to strengthen his feeble body with demonic power. V reflects on how terrifed he felt about being powerless in front of Urizen's demonic presence as he finds Vergil's book of poems on the ground, causing V to remember Vergil's childhood with his brother Dante. When V internally express his wish of not wanting to die, Griffon yells at V to express his desire to live out loud and lifts V off the floor. Griffon takes V outside and drops him on a pile of garbage, mocking V a little bit before telling him to make a contract with him.

Chapter 2
In a deserted alleyway in Red Grave City, a young punk mugged an old man as a naked V approach the scene. While the punk focus his attention on V, Griffon attacks the punk from behind and knock him unconscious. As V steals the punk's clothes and jewelry, V comments on clothing style causing Griffon to rant at his nitpicking and tells V that must listen to his wishes. A flashback taking place outside Sparda's mansion shows Griffon half-jokingly pitching to V to make a contract with him. Annoyed at Griffon's yapping, V shuts his beak and demands that Griffon explain himself. Griffon reveals to V that he is the discarded memories that Vergil cut off with Yamato, specifically the "nightmares" of Vergil's time with Mundus. While Griffon states his doesn't care that Vergil discarded him, but as a "dream", he will disappear soon without a host. Griffon says the V will become his host since his body is also decaying and he can't return to being Vergil, as the demon side of him will never allow that to happen. He also stresses that V doesn't the power to defeat the demon half, therefore the two of them have to work together or they will die. Back in the present, V questions why would he need Griffon, angering him since been helping him. However, V clarify that he planning on "using" Griffon, not helping him, and voices his skepticism of his abilities. While exasperated V's demeanor, Griffon agrees to prove himself to V, who tells him to kill the Empusa that manifest in the alley. Griffon easily subdue the Empusa with a lighting attack, boasting to V if he still think he doesn't need him.

Chapter 3
V looks upon the fallen Empusa, wondering if its appearance in the city is because of Urizen. Griffon confirms V's theory, and states that due to how powerful Urizen is and the fact he has Yamato, Red Grave City will likely be infested with demons soon. Griffon chides V for acting arrogant when he can't even protect himself and mocks him as V picks up Vergil's poetry book. While V express his dislike of teaming up with Griffon, he agrees to work together with him because he doesn't want to die. As the two bickers with one another, the Empusa rises from the ground and attacks the duo, much to Griffon's shock. Griffon dodges the Empusa and lifts V in the air, questioning why his lightning didn't kill it and tries striking it again. However, the Empusa is still alive and recovers from the attack. Griffon suddenly runs out of demonic power, causing his form to become unstable and making him fall to the ground. Unable to fight, Griffon tells V that they need to hide, prompting V to break into a nearby antique store and drags Griffon inside. The Empusa attacks V, pining him down, but Griffon draws its attention and lunches a strong attack, despite his weak condition. V reflects how frustrating it is to be weak and decides to take action, breaking a glass case and retrieves a cane to stab the Empusa.

Chapter 4
After great effort, V is able to successfully kill the Empusa and collapse on a nearby couch. V wonders if he was able to killed the demon because of the cane, though it doesn't look like a Devil Arm. Griffon explains to V that it is not the cane, but V himself. Griffon deduces that because he is a essentially "dream" without any substance, so it's impossible for him to kill anything, and V must be the one to deliver the killing blow. Griffon states if this will work they will fight in the future, although V is doubtful that could do it since it took a lot effort just beat a low-level demon. However, Griffon assures V that he shouldn't be ashamed since the both of them are "pathetic" in their own way. Having reach his limit, Griffon's form begins to melt on the floor and tells V to make a choice quickly. Knowing he doesn't much options, V accepts he needs Griffon and places his hand on Griffon's melted form to begin the contract. As Griffon's form wraps around V's body, Griffon apologizes to V for thinking he will be a burden and the promise not to make fun of him anymore. With the contract complete, V gains tattoos on his upper body and arms as Griffon regain his proper form.

Chapter 5
In a flashback, a bloody Vergil is shown being tortured by Mundus, with his body proceed by spikes and Yamato broken. Mundus cursed Sparda and belittles Vergil for being weak due his human genes. Vergil defiantly provokes Mundus, who engulfs Vergil in dark energy and tells him that human heart makes him weak, and will transform him into his servant - Nelo Angelo - with any emotions or sense of self. In the real world, a panting V snaps out the memory as Griffon pokes fun at his expression. Suddenly Griffon suddenly sense another being like him nearby and urges V to find them before they disappear. Finding the deed troublesome, V is reluctant to do so, but Griffon states that they urgently need more allies. Griffon explains that three more memories took physical form after Vergil casts them out. While Griffon admits that they still behave like demons and will likely be aggressive, he believes that some of them will be willing to join them since they won't want to die or use force to tame them. V spots a dark human-shape figure in the street, who morphed its body and attacks them with a large spike, but V was able to block it with his cane. The figure reveals to be Shadow, another manifestation of Vergil's memory, and starts growling at V. After snatching V's cane away, Shadow flees, leading Griffon to speculate that since the cane smells like the Demon World, Shadow might think he can use into to go there. They follow Shadow to a alley way swarming with bugs and sees Shadow is about to disappear. Before V could help Shadow, a giant, speaking Phantom appears and threats to eat V and Griffon for trying to claim his prey.

Chapter 6
As V retrieves his cane, he moves to confront Phantom, telling the demon that he and Griffon were after Shadow first. Griffon tells V that Shadow is in his core state and form should return soon since he not completely out of energy yet, but advise that they should deal with Phantom before handling Shadow. Phantom recognizes V and Griffon, calling the former their "host". When Griffon tells Phantom to make a contract with V, Phantom hauntingly proclaims that he will never serve someone as weak as V, disparaging V and refuses to live tied to him, stating he would die than serve him. Angry at Phantom's insults towards, V provokes Phantom, causing the demon to attack him. V and Griffon manages to dodge and hide behind a large piece rock, dragging Shadow's limp body with them. Exasperated by situation, Griffon explains they cannot handle Phantom and Shadow at the same time, so V must forcefully tame Shadow. Before V could stab Shadow with his cane, Shadow regains consciousness and clamp his jaw on V's cane. Reflecting over his interaction with Phantom, V realize it's pointless to demand cooperation from Shadow and asks Shadow to make a choice - die or struggle and live - and if Shadow choose to live, then V says that he need Shadow. With Shadow's help, the group are able to attack Phantom and have enter his core state, allowing V to kill him. Relieve that they are all alive, Shadow affectionately licks V's faces as Griffon happily remarks how Shadow is taken with V.

Chapter 7
Once Shadow regains his composure, Shadow initiates the contract ritual with V and transforms into a semi-liquid state to warps around V's body. As V mentally connects with Shadow, more tattoos appears on his body, but is plague by another flashback of Vergil being torture by Mundus and becoming Nelo Angelo. Undergoing great mental and emotional distress, V contemplates how much he hates reliving the memories, but openly admits he needs more power to be Urizen and must find a stronger familiar. Griffon remarks the they lost a major ally in Phantom, though he admits that Phantom wouldn't cooperate with them even if they tame him. Griffon warns V that all of them aren't very strong individually, so they must work as a team. However, V bluntly just ask Griffon if there is more powerful "nightmare" left they can have as an ally. Griffon nervously confirms that there is one more and leads V to an abandon church. Although Griffon tries to talk V out of confronting the demon, V enters the church and meets the large Nightmare. Griffon frighteningly begs to run away since they have no chance of beating it, but V is determine to have Nightmare as a familiar.